The Auswine Forum

Following on from a couple of threads on drinking windows , I am interested to know how drinking windows are calculated. Presumably DW are an estimate and are based on the structure of the wine and would include such variables as weight of fruit, tannins, appropriate ph and overall balance.
A method I have employed is to taste the bottle over several days to track how it goes and then equate this to a DW estimate. If it last ok opened for a week and has the required components should go 10 years.
Any other views?

I reckon both your comments are right. I like doing the "how it goes open over time" test as well.
Adair

I would be most interested in hearing as many peoples input on this subject as possible and collect facts, hearsay and fallacy as I am still putting together an article on this subject..

I think pedigree plays a big part, together with the experience of the reviewer with the particular wine. If you've been drinking Lovedale, or Tyrrell's Stevens semillon (or Wendouree Shiraz, Hill of Grace, Rousseau's Chambertin) for many years, and know what winemaking technique or vineyard changes there have been (if any), you only need look perhaps at specific vintage conditions to be confident of making a reasonable prediction of aging potential.

I don't believe you can just measure SO2, acid, sugar, alcohol, etc. and make a prediction. Making good estimates for new makers, regions - or wines that undergo dramatic changes of style and/or region (Pavie, high-alcohol Jasper Hill, Eileen Hardy shiraz) are equally problematic.

I have no sure-fire answers - I think experience (with the wines or the region) is the biggest factor really. Who would you trust to best pick a drinking window for Graveyard Shiraz - Halliday or Parker? How about Chateau Latour - Broadbent or Robin Bradley?

cheers,
Graeme

Hi Graeme,

I thinking knowing a wine in general (i.e. tasting a number of vintages) and then tasting a particular vintage should give you an accurate idea of the drinking window.

Adair

Hi Guys,

Both Adair and Graeme have raised some interesting points. Yes, it's always great to have the benefit of history and experience with the winery, no argument there. However, frequently in my case, I am assessing wines from the producer for the first time and there is little or no history to go on.

Experience with the areas certainly helps, as does knowledge of the winemaking style but there is still a fair amount of guesswork in it.

In my opinion the worst critic at judging drinking windows for Australian wineis the much lauded Robert Parker. I find many of his predictions plain laughable. It is also worth remembering that Parker does not have a long history of assessing Australian wines and I'm sure this is a factor in his predictions.

More on this topic later.

duplicate post deleted

Agree with the comments above - track record is very useful (in the critic as well as the wine!).

I've heard comment (I think from Jamie Goode aka The Wine Anorak in the UK), that resistance to oxidation is far from a foolproof guide to ageing - the comments I believe went into a decent depth. Worth searching his site or UK Wine Forums if you're interested Mark.

I guess it's also complicated that we like different levels of maturity in our wines - and that our preference probably varies by wine style as well.

Ian

Here's an excerpt from the Penguin Guide to Drinking Windows

TORB wrote:duplicate post deleted

I seem to recall a comment about drinking and posting causing double entries..... hmmmmm ... but at 3am?

GrahamB wrote:

TORB wrote:duplicate post deleted

I seem to recall a comment about drinking and posting causing double entries..... hmmmmm ... but at 3am?

4.26am Adelaide time or 4.56am local time for me, someone has to kick those lazy birds out of bed.